Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) March 19, 1997: But I also respectfully suggest that everyone who is nominated is entitled to have a shot, to have a hearing and to have a shot to be heard on the floor and have a vote on the floor.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois)September 28, 1998: We should meet our responsibility. I think that responsibility requires us to act in a timely fashion on nominees sent before us. ... Vote the person up or down.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) September 11, 1997: Lets bring their nominations up, debate them if necessary, and vote them up or down.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts)February 3, 1998: We owe it to Americans across the country to give these nominees a vote. If our Republican colleagues dont like them, vote against them. But give them a vote.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) May 10, 2000: The Founding Fathers certainly intended that the Senate advise as to judicial nominations, i.e., consider, debate, and vote up or down. They surely did not intend that the Senate, for partisan or factional reasons, would remain silent and simply refuse to give any advice or consider and vote at all.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) 5/14/97 : It is not the role of the Senate to obstruct the process and prevent numbers of highly qualified nominees from even being given the opportunity for a vote on the Senate floor.

Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD): I find it simply baffling that a Senator would vote against even voting on a judicial nomination. (Congressional Record, 10/5/99)

Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD): Hispanic or non-Hispanic, African American or non-African American, woman or man, it is wrong not to have a vote on the Senate floor. (Congressional Record, 10/28/99)

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND): My expectation is that were not going to hold up judicial nominations. You will not see us do what was done to us in recent years in the Senate with judicial nominations. (Fox News Special Report With Brit Hume, 6/4/01)

Richard Durbin (D-IL) "If, after 150 days languishing on the Executive Calendar that name has not been called for a vote, it should be. Vote the person up or down." (Cong. Rec., 9/28/98, S11021)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): Lets bring their nominations up, debate them if necessary, and vote them up or down. (Congressional Record, 9/11/97)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): It is our job to confirm these judges. If we dont like them, we can vote against them. (Congressional Record, 9/16/99)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): [The filibuster process] is used as blackmail for one Senator to get his or her way on something that they could not rightfully win through the normal processes. (Congressional Record, 1/4/95)

Tom Harkin (D-IA) "Have the guts to come out and vote up or down .And once and for all, put behind us this filibuster procedure on nominations." (Cong. Rec., 6/22/95, S8861)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): I urge the Republican leadership to take the steps necessary to allow the full Senate to vote up or down on these important nominations. (Congressional Record, 9/11/00)

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA): We owe it to Americans across the country to give these nominees a vote. If our Republican colleagues dont like them, vote against them. But give them a vote. (Congressional Record, 2/3/98)

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA): It is true that some Senators have voiced concerns about these nominations. But that should not prevent a roll call vote which gives every Senator the opportunity to vote yes or no. ... Parties with cases, waiting to be heard by the federal courts deserve a decision by the Senate. (Congressional Record, 9/21/99)

Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI): These nominees, who have to put their lives on hold waiting for us to act, deserve an up or down vote. (Congressional Record, 9/21/99)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): I hope we will accept our responsibility and vote people up or vote them down. If we want to vote against them, vote against them. (Congressional Record, 10/22/97)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): Now, every Senator can vote against any nominee. But it is the responsibility of the U.S. Senate to at least bring them to a vote. (Congressional Record, 10/22/97)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT):  "I have stated over and over again that I would object and fight against any filibuster on a judge, whether it is somebody I opposed or supported  (Congressional Record, 6/18/98)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): [E]arlier this year I noted how improper it would be to filibuster a judicial nomination. (Congressional Record, 10/14/98)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): [I]f the person is otherwise qualified, he or she gets the vote. Vote them up, vote them down. (Congressional Record, 9/21/99)

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): [W]e should have up-or-down votes in the committee and on the floor. (CNNs Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields, 6/9/01)

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): [W]e are charged with voting on the nominees. The Constitution does not say if the Congress is controlled by a different party than the President there shall be no judges chosen. (Congressional Record, 3/7/00)

Carl Levin (D-MI) "If a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate is prepared to vote to confirm the President's appointment, that vote should occur." (Cong. Rec., 6/21/95, S8806)

But you must understand, those nominees were in the 'mainstream' and should not be filibustered. Bush's nominees are evil conservatives bent on restoring the Constitution we are trying so hard to kill (since it is a 'living, breathing document', and we failed to abort it in 1787), so they are out of the 'mainstream' that we get to define. /Dingy Harry Reid mode off

14
posted on 05/19/2005 8:31:21 AM PDT
by ex 98C MI Dude
(Our legal system is in a PVS. Time to remove it from the public feeding trough.)

Nice. I'm sure the Sunday TV talk shows will be asking the Demorats to explain these quotes... This is a great example of how the "MSM" ill serves the public. I mean, shouldn't they have been beating the Demorats with this stuff long ago? And what about the Republicans? Why aren't they researching this stuff and throwing it in the faces of the Demorats?

I see by the dates their opinion on this issue depends on who is in the White House.

26
posted on 05/19/2005 8:47:24 AM PDT
by TheDon
(Euthanasia is an atrocity.)

As to why OUR party isn't using these quotes EVERY SINGLE time they stand up to speak and sending out e-mails to Republicans across the country and writing letters to the editors is a mystery to me as well.

If "reminded" of his quote above, I wonder who Reid would explain his most recent "spewage":

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said Thursday that President Bush and Republican senators are trying to "rewrite the Constitution and reinvent reality" in their push to confirm controversial judicial nominees.

"The Senate is not a rubber stamp for the executive branch," Reid said. "Rather, we're the one institution where the minority has a voice and the ability to check the power of the majority. Today, in the face of President Bush's power grab, that's more important than ever."

Reid says that the Constitution does not require that judicial nominees get confirmation votes, allowing the minority to block them. Bush and other Republicans who argue otherwise "rewrite the Constitution and reinvent reality," he said.

Democratic double speak. They say one thing one time and completely change it later. Kind of like F'n Kerry saying he supported it before he didn't, or whatever that stupid remark of his was.

The democrats lie here and there. They say one thing today. Another tomorrow. Same subject, different answer. The answer is just to fit their liberal, leftist, communist agenda.

The sorry point to this all, is that so many Americans believe these people, trust these people, all in the name of free handouts. Sad. Extremely sad what the state of this nation has become. America is not even close to what it was when founded. Going down more every day.

Isn't it amazing how the conservatives are always out of the mainstream but we control all branches of government?

I would argue that Republicans have control of the Executive branch, a tenuous control of the Legislative branch, and is a minority voice in the Judicial branch. But I would not suggest that conservatives have much of a voice in any of the three branches.

can someone check a few of these quotes? the Congressional Record is online and searchable. I tried to check a couple and my browser won't open the text. But some of the page numbers appear in discussion that don't seem to be about judges.

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